The Isreali war of Independance, 1948

After the British had fallen out of favour with the Israelis they handed the problem over to the United Nations. Throughout 1947 Arab radicals had been attacking Jews and had planned on attacking again once the British had left and the mandates were gone. The Jewish state was now under the control of a man named David Ben Gurion. He decided early on that it was necessary to build up a force in preparation for an assault by the armies of the Arab countries. Once the United nations took over they suggested a partition, the Israelis liked the idea but the Arabs weren't happy. The Isreali army had a first strike policy which meant if they had intelligence that they were going to be attacked they would attack first and so the day that the British mandate ended they attacked the Arab league countries. this War was known as the Israeli War of Independence

Summary

Even though the Jews had less man power and less fire power (because they were surrounded by five countries that they were fighting against) they suprisingly won the war because of early preparation and intellegence giving them the advantage of an unseen strike. Finally, fighting officially ended in January 1949. By winning the war the Jewish increased their territory from the partition. From January to July 1949, armistice agreements were signed with Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria based on the frontlines as they were at the end of the fighting. These lines created the borders of the new state and as a result, Israel gained control of the areas which would have been part of the Arab state. Even though there were armistice agreements and the jewish hoped these would end the fighting the Arabs still didn't recognise Israels existence and remained in a continuous state of war with the Jews